2017 NOVAR Verizon Cup Series season

From NOVARpedia

2017 NOVAR Verizon Cup Series Season
NVCSnewLogo.png
# of Rounds 25
Ovals 22
Road Courses 3
Triple Crown Champions
Driver's Champion #59-Shane Hardon
Points Champion #59-Shane Hardon
SC Challenge Champion #59-Shane Hardon
Other Champions
Owner's Champion #59 MONSTER Energy Racing
Team's Champion MONSTER Energy Racing
Manufacturer's Champion Ford
Rookie of the Year #12-Kalvin Harrea
Other
Season Opener 2017 Dentsville 250
Season Finale 2017 Verizon Championship 400
Previous Season Next Season
2016 2018
Championship Overview

The 2017 NOVAR Verizon Cup Series Season, is the 54th season in Cup series competition, and the 9th under the Verizon Cup banner. Shane Nargon is the defending champion. This season is the first with the triple crown championship system.

Shane Hardon took his first title by 44 points over Chris Clark, by winning the most races by a champion since Shane Clarke II's win in 2005 with seven.

Preseason changes[edit | edit source]

This season will see many significant changes that will be implemented in all series.

Championship Triple Crown[edit | edit source]

  • NOVAR has announced it will create a triple crown
    • NOVAR announced that a new playoff system will replace the standard season long system that has been implemented since the first season for determining a champion/
      • The changes include:
        • The season will now be divided into a 15 race regular season followed by a 10 race playoff.
        • A win throughout the first 15 races will automatically place a driver in the playoff.
          • Tough a driver with 1 win must maintain in the top 40 in points.
          • If driver earns 2 or more wins, they are locked in no matter what where they stand in the points as long as they attempt all 15 races.
        • 20 drivers will make the playoff at the conclusion of Race 15.
        • There will be four rounds in the playoffs, 4 races in the first round, 3 in the second round, 2 in the third round, and a championship race.
          • Of the 20 drivers that make the playoffs, 10 drivers will advance into round 2, 5 will advance into round 3, and two will race for the championship.
        • A win in any round will automatically move a driver into the next round.
        • Each win a driver earns throughout the season, 5 points will be added to his driver's point total during reseeding.
        • In the final round, the driver with the higher finish is the series champion.
    • NOVAR's regular points system will still be active throughout the season.
    • The SC Challenge has been changed so all drivers will be eligible.
      • A win at Dentsville, Cayce, Darlington, and Camden will get locked in spots to Columbia, with the highest finisher in the race winning that title.
    • If a driver can win all three, then they will be awarded the Triple Crown.

New Point System[edit | edit source]

  • NOVAR has also restructured its point system for 2017 that will apply for all series.
    • 100 points will be awarded for the winner.
    • 80 points will be awarded for second, the followed by 10 point increments from 2nd-5th.
    • 5 point increments will follow and go from 5th-13th. Two point increments between 13th-15th followed by 1 point differences between 15th-20th.
    • Drivers scoring below 20th will not receive any points.
    • There will be a 10 point bonus for winning the pole, and a 20 point bonus for leading the most laps.
  • NOVAR also announced the creation of the Quarter Points which are rewarded for consistently running up in front of races.
    • Drivers are scored at every quarter of the race with the point system below, a driver can now score a maximum of 166 points in a race.
Points Table[edit | edit source]
Pos. Points
1 100
2 80
3 70
4 60
5 50
6 45
7 40
8 35
9 30
10 25
11 20
12 15
13 10
14 8
15 6
16 5
17 4
18 3
19 2
20 1
21> 0
Quarter Points Table[edit | edit source]
Pos. Points
1 12
2 10
3 8
4 7
5 6
6 5
7 4
8 3
9 2
10 1

Other Changes[edit | edit source]

  • The entry cap will now depend on the track promoters.
  • Part-time entries are now no longer locked to the SC challenge races. They can now run as many races as they want to.
    • If the team decides to go full time, they must declare by race 6 in order to eligible for waiver just in case they stumble into playoffs.
  • Replacement drivers can now score points for regular drivers.
    • This also includes scenarios in which a replacement driver can get a regular driver into the playoff.
  • The roof banners, spoilers, and stripes on the back will now colored based on driver status
    • A red banner will represent a playoff contender. (Green in Gatorade, and White in the Trucks)
    • A yellow banner will represent a rookie driver.
    • A red/black gradient banner will represent a past champion. (Green/Orange in GS, Red/White in GSTS)
    • A gray banner will represent a part time entry.
    • A black banner will represent a normal entry.


Roster[edit | edit source]

Team Car No. Driver Primary Sponsor Notes
Tyson Bell Racing Toyota 2 Ryan Pearson Cookout
3 Shane Little Cici's Pizza
7 Caroline Slavotoriz Waffle House
71 Conal Zukei Aflac
73 Nick Dunnigan Academy Sports
Billy Garber Motorsports Dodge 4 Carter Pavis Denny's
04 Jason Kylaso Lay's
64 Brian Dawson Time Warner Cable
77 Max Rippan Harris Teeter
DM Racing Chevy 5 Kasey Lautenger TARGET
10 Justin Klingston Kelloggs
42 Shane Bliss Gamestop
48 CJ Gordon T-Mobile
88 Allen Kimmel Budweiser
Fusion Racing Ford 6 Scott Harper Canon
62 Wayne Gosselin
66 Jason Duke Energizer
76 Jake Keerlin Arbys
E's Racing Chevy 8 Walter Youthan Jimmy Johns
01 Jaya Antoure TaxSlayer.com
15 Chadler Blake Exide Batteries
17 Mike Hogan Coca Cola
38 Chris Bell GEICO
Mars/Wrigley Racing Toyota 9 Jamie Scotti Skittles
00 Johnathon Winslow Starburst
09 Jke Jaze Jr. Twix
19 Casey Houtu Snickers
91 Gordon Billard MnM's
OPIS Motorsports Chevy 02 Cody Preston
Chin Racing Toyota 03 Shane Howard Coors Lite
14 Luke Warren 5 Hour Energy
20 Mark Mongillo Menards
25 Austin Warwick Fastenal
72 Logan Chin Moutain Dew
Vavoline Racing Ford 05 Marcus Powell Vavoline
41 Mike Wilson
Calacoim Inc. Dodge 07 Frank Meredian Chick-fl-La
63 Avis Rapax
82 Scott Howard PEAK Anti-Freeze
96 Tobias Newbridge Dominos Pizza
Grenson Motorsports Toyota 11 James Wilson Jr. Doritos
50 Blake Baggatania All-state
Silver Green Racing Chevy 12 Kalvin Harrea Cracker Barrel
18 Daemin Scott Conway Freight
22 Cody Wyke Verizon
32 Shane Nargon Discount Tires
51 Ethan Lautenger Dollar General
Howell-Wilson Racing Chevy SS 13 Jarrod Landsoll Pringles
16 Steven Volk NAPA
28 Mick Stanton 3M
90 Brian Wilson UPS
Pieper Inc. Ford 23 Cory Vondelga Castrol
26 Todd Pieper Southwest Airlines
27 Keith Hales Copart.com
29 Carson Brooks Armor All
30 Branndon Green Wendy's
Tri-Racing BMW 31 Rondal Portland Pizza Hut
33 Cameron Brooks Taco Bell
35 Tony Wyder KFC
37 George Davids Long John Silvers
W. Green Racing Chevy 39 Walter Green Bass Pro Shops
40 Alex Navarro AutoZone
Arouna Racing Ford 44 Sean McDowell Red Robin
75 Evan Brooks Netflix
Gaiber Motorsports Toyota 52 Carson Plrank
99 Darron Dubois Air Force
MONSTER Energy Racing Ford 55 Eddie Johns ASSAULT
56 Chris Clark KHAOS
57 Kyra Youthan Lo-Carb
58 Scott Johnson Regular
59 Shane Hardon MIXXD
Rueson Autosports Dodge 74 Kagen Rueson Office Depot
78 Ray Landonssel DLP
K. Jesse Racing Chevy 80 Keith Jesse
Casner Autosports Chevy 85 Chris McCoy
Hanto Racing Toyota 87 Shinchiro Hanto
Clarke Legendary Racing Ford 89 Greg Clarence Lumber Liquadators
98 Shane Clarke III
Gonzalez Autosports Chevy 92 Sebastian Gonzalez
Xezuno Autosports Toyota 97 Makoto Mika


Schedule[edit | edit source]

The season will be a total of 25 races. 15 regular season races, and 10 playoff races.

Race Number Race Title Track Car Winner Team
1 Dentsville 250 Dentsville Superspeedway
2 FedEx 200 Homestead-Miami Speedway
3 Lumber Liquadators 200 Chicagoland Motor Speedway
4 Pilot Travel Centers 250 Bristol Motor Speedway
5 Darlington 250 Darlington Raceway
6 GoPro 250 Daytona International Speedway
7 A&W 125 Watkins Glen International
8 Armor All 200 Salt Lake City Speedway
9 AAA 250 California Speedway
10a Cayce Doubles Cayce Autosports Complex
10b
11 Bush's Baked Beans 200 Boston International Speedway
12 Albany 250 New York Autoring
13 Discount Tires 200 Dover International Speedway
14 Miller Lite 200 Las Vegas Motor Speedway
15 Camden 200k Camden Motorsports Park
FIRST ROUND
16 TARGET 200 Atlantic City Speedrome
17 Expedia 200 Grand Detour Raceway
18 SUNCO Fueling 250K Edmonton Endurance Course
19 Indianapolis 250 Indianapolis Motor Speedway
QUARTERFINALS
20 Southwest Airlines 200 Denver International Speedway
21 SUBWAY 250 Talladega Superspeedway
22 Zaxby's 200 Atlanta Motor Speedway
SEMI FINALS
23 Fastenal 200 Iowa Speedway
24 Allstate 250 New Jersey Motor Spedway
Championship Race
25 Verizon Championship 400 Columbia International Speedway

Trivia[edit | edit source]

  • The SUBWAY 250 at Talladega will be the series' 1,000th race.
  • This was the final season the Ike Kendall Jr. was as series president, He was fired due to the negative reception of the triple crown, and ratings had dropped.
    • Former VCS driver and Gatorade Series head offical Andrew Carson was announced as the new president of NOVAR in 2018.